HC sets aside life term awarded to murder convict, sees denial of fair trial

Setting aside the life term awarded to a person in a murder case, the Kerala High Court has held that he was denied fair trial.

Babu C.G., hailing from Kottayam, has spent 14 years in prison since 2012, after being convicted by a trial court under Section 302 and Section 324 of the IPC. He had been charged with fatally stabbing another person while playing cards at a club in Pampady, Kottayam in 2011. Stating that a judge cannot assume the role of a prosecutor, the High Court held that ineffective legal aid, delay, and the trial judge assuming the role of prosecutor, struck at the root of due process that Article 21 of the Constitution assured. The sessions judge in this case assumed the role of public prosecutor and did ‘chief examination’ herself, exceeding the power vested in the court, said a Division Bench.

In addition, many witnesses were examined in the absence of the accused person, while the trial was adjourned over 100 times, it added. The person who was imprisoned filed an appeal before the High Court, alleging that he was convicted without proper appreciation of evidence. He served seven years in judicial custody itself, up to 2019.